Russia warships stalk US aircraft carrier in ‘cat and mouse chase’

USS Harry S. Truman has been pursued around the Med by a group of Russian frigates led by warship Yaroslav Mudry.

Video of the incident shows a Russian vessel in the distance shadowing the carrier and its destroyer escort.

Footage was shared by ITV as a team of news reporters visited the US warship.

The vessel is the US’s main weapon against ISIS as it launches strikes on their positions in Syria.

War tensions have flared however after the US, France and Britain launched airstrikes against Vladimir Putin’s pal Bashar al-Assad.

USS Harry S. Truman – the 116,000-ton vessel – is the flagship of the US Navy’s mighty Carrier Strike Group 8.

The warship set sail from the US last month along with a destroyer squadron to become US President Donald Trump’s leading force in the Middle East.

It has been joined by guided-missile destroyers USS Arleigh Burke, USS Bulkeley, USS Forrest Sherman, USS Jason Dunham and USS The Sullivans and USS Farragut.

Russian warships have also been filing into the Med from the Black Sea as Putin gives his full backing to Assad.

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Estonian Defense Minister: Russian Aggressiveness Increasing In Baltic Sea

The Baltic region has been a concern for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization alliance for the last decade as Russian behavior has morphed into that reminiscent of the Soviet Union. The Estonian defense minister vocally made these points in a recent interview, highlighting NATO’s concerns in the volatile, militarily-crowded region.

“Russian warships have been clearly attempting to pressure NATO to leave the Baltic Sea,” Luik told Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat in an interview published on Thursday, reported The Baltic Times.

Behaviors such as approaching to an unsafe, maritime distance by Soviet forces and attempting to harass and deter Western military assets were well documented during the Cold War.

“This is happening in international waters. It is a violation of good maritime practice,” Luik said.

The Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, nestled strategically between the Baltic nations and Central Europe, has been heavily militarized by Russian armed forces. The nuclear-capable Iskander medium-range missile system has been robustly deployed, as well as a sophisticated air defense network to threaten NATO aircraft.

Source: Tsarizm

US stealth fighters intercept Russian bombers off the coast of Alaska

Two Russian TU-95 “Bear” bombers were intercepted by US F-22 stealth fighters in international airspace off the coast of Alaska on Friday, according to North American Aerospace Defense Command.

The Russian long-range bombers flew into the Air Defense Identification Zone, which extends approximately 200 miles off Alaska’s western coast.
“At approximately 10 a.m. ET, two Alaskan-based NORAD F-22 fighters intercepted and visually identified two Russian TU-95 ‘Bear’ long-range bomber aircraft flying in the Air Defense Identification Zone around the western coast of Alaska, north of the Aleutian Islands,” NORAD and USNORTHCOM spokesman Canadian Army Maj. Andrew Hennessy said in a statement.
The Russian aircraft were “intercepted and monitored by the F-22s until the bombers left the ADIZ along the Aleutian Island chain heading west,” and never entered US airspace, according to the statement.
The last such intercept of Russian aircraft by US jets took place on May 3, 2017.
Source: CNN

Journalist who exposed Russia’s secret mercenaries in Syria mysteriously fell to his death

Maxim Borodin

In February, Russian investigative journalist Maxim Borodin published a series of bombshell reports about the secret, substantial presence of Russian mercenary forces in Syria. On Sunday, he died, following a mysterious fall from his fifth-floor balcony.

Now, a journalists’ advocacy group is calling for an investigation into his “suspicious” death — even though his own editor-in-chief has said there’s not yet any hard evidence of foul play.

Local police said they’re investigating “several versions” of the death of Borodin, 32, who worked for an outlet called Novy Den in the city of Yekaterinburg. The cops said in a statement they “haven’t ruled out that it was an accident.”

Read More at Vice.com

Russia claims its nuclear sub went ‘undetected’ on US coastline

Russia’s nuclear submarine went “undetected” on its approach to the U.S. coastline during an exercise near American military bases, a submarine squadron commander recently told Zveda, Russia’s Defense Ministry’s official broadcaster, RT reported.

The news of the nuclear submarine activity was made in a military television series on Zveda. The episode’s focus was Akula-class Shchuka-B nuclear-powered submarines.

“This mission has been accomplished, the submarines showed up in the set location in the ocean and returned to base,” said submarine squadron commander Sergey Starshinov.

Starshinov said the submarine went “undetected” upon close approach to U.S. shores without violating maritime borders by staying in international waters. The date and location of the undetected activity was not been disclosed.

The U.S. Navy did not respond to a request for comment.

 Russia’s submarine activity is at a post-Cold War high, Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti – the Supreme Allied Commander Europe of NATO Allied Command Operations, said Thursday.

“They are deploying more and they are deploying at a higher rate,” he said. “The forces they are deploying are being modernized, particularly with their weapons systems.”

Read more here.

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